Well, the Pentax 18-250mm, actually a re-badged Tamron lens looks to be very good after looking at your photo sample. After your trip, please give us your real-life evaluation of this lens. Thanks!
Sarah Joyce

Sarah, if you want to see how well this lens (Tamron) does close-ups, see this thread:

... also, I am not keen on switching lenses out especially in a tropical ocean atomosphere. I visited the Cayman Islands a few years ago and had trouble with condensation everytime I left an airconditioned location (including my rental car). Therefore, I plan to keep lens switching to a minumum. Was this an issue in Hawaii, Paul?

I didn't have any problems with condensation while I was in Hawaii. I was more concerned with limiting lens changes near the beaches because of potential introduction of sand. However, the number of times we were in air conditioning was limited. My son's house doesn't have air, nor do many of the restaurants, etc. We did a lot of our traveling in his Jeep Wrangler open to the air, so about the only time in the two and half weeks we were there when we had air was when we were going up and down the coast in the rental car.

Condensation is much more of a problem as you near the equator. We have instructed for years on cruise ships, and where you find a condensation problem is typically as you pass through the Panama Canal.

Congrats on what appears to be a fine lens. I also brought a Joby Gorillapod on my camping trip to the Rocky Mountains a few months ago. I put a small ballhead on the 'pod and I was glad I did, because the legs are stiff enough that making fine adjustments would have been time consuming and frustrating. With the ballhead, the gorillapod worked very nicely.

Congrats on what appears to be a fine lens. I also brought a Joby Gorillapod on my camping trip to the Rocky Mountains a few months ago. I put a small ballhead on the 'pod and I was glad I did, because the legs are stiff enough that making fine adjustments would have been time consuming and frustrating. With the ballhead, the gorillapod worked very nicely.

Getting a small ball head for the Gorilla Pod seems like a capital idea! I'll have to order one today to make sure it gets here before I leave...thanks for the suggestion!